Ebola outbreak in West Africa

[Dauphin]

The mortality rate is lower for ebola. I assume you mean case fatality rate.

[kentonio]

I've never been to England.

And you never will. English people would ****ing hate you.

[DaShi]

Don't worry such a trip would bankrupt him.

[Elok]

Actually Sava, Ben's right on point there. The fact that Ebola has a really high mortality rate even with modern Western medical care is a cause for concern.

Getting mauled by an angry male hippo is equally difficult to treat. Fortunately, like Ebola, it's pretty rare outside of Africa.

[DinoDoc]

Getting mauled by an angry male hippo is equally difficult to treat. Fortunately, like Ebola, it's pretty rare outside of Africa.

We don't issue visas to angry male hippos either. Not to the same extent we do for Ebola victims anyway.

[kentonio]

We don't issue visas to angry male hippos either. Not to the same extent we do for Ebola victims anyway.

I'm fairly sure you've brought more angry hippos into the country than you have issued visas to ebola suffers.

[kentonio]

Ebola nurse William Pooley returns to Sierra Leone

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William Pooley, the British nurse who contracted Ebola while volunteering in West Africa, has returned to Sierra Leone to resume his work.

He said there was a "real emergency" in the country and he was "delighted" to be back on the front line.

Mr Pooley will start work at a hospital in the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown, on Monday.

He has previously spoken of the "horror and the misery" he witnessed in his first spell in the country.

While in the UK, the 29-year-old had said he was "impatient" to return to his work in Africa and would travel as soon as he had a new passport. His old one was incinerated when he was evacuated.

The nurse, from Eyke in Suffolk, was flown back to the UK by the RAF on 24 August and was taken to the UK's special isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

He was treated during the early stages of the infection, before the onset of internal or external bleeding.

Unlike many people in Africa he was given the experimental drug ZMapp, which seemed to lower levels of the virus in his body.

He has since made a full recovery and has donated his blood for medical research.

Mr Pooley said: "I would like to once again thank the team at the Royal Free Hospital and the RAF who provided me with such excellent treatment and support.

"But the real emergency is in West Africa, and the teams out there need all the support we can give them - I am now looking forward to getting back out there and doing all I can to prevent as many unnecessary deaths as possible."

More than 4,500 people have died in the Ebola outbreak, which is the largest in history.

Mr Pooley will work at the isolation unit at Connaught Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where he will train staff and set up new isolation units.

He will work with a team from King's Health Partners - a collaboration between King's College London and three NHS trusts - which is operating in the country.

Dr Oliver Johnson, programme director for the King's Sierra Leone Partnership, said: "It is fantastic that Will has chosen to join our small team here at Connaught Hospital.

"The situation here in Freetown is getting worse by the day and so Will's experience and commitment will be vital as we do everything we can to stem the flow of cases.

"The best way of stopping Ebola spreading even further is to fight it at its source and I look forward to working with Will to do just that."

The extent of any immunity Mr Pooley will have to the virus is unclear.

Having recovered from Ebola, his immune system should be able to fight the infection.

However, doctors are not certain how long the immunity will last or whether he is completely resistant.

But Mr Pooley added: "It's massively safer for me to work there now than it was before."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29680400

[Elok]

I wonder how long it will be before we have the technology to directly mass-synthesize antibodies? I'm sure it's a hellishly complicated problem from an engineering perspective . . .

[Ben Kenobi]

Ebola spreading even further is to fight it at its source

So why not stay there? Are they going to med-evac him again?

[Sava]

Actually Sava, Ben's right on point there. The fact that Ebola has a really high mortality rate even with modern Western medical care is a cause for concern.

Don't make me add you to the facepalm brigade.

[kentonio]

So why not stay there? Are they going to med-evac him again?

He's a man willing to risk his own life to help the sick and needy. You wouldn't understand.

[Ben Kenobi]

He's a man willing to risk his own life to help the sick and needy. You wouldn't understand.

Would he do it if he wasn't getting med-evac'd when the going got tough? They brought him out once. Are they going to bring him out every time he contracts Ebola?

[regexcellent]

Don't make me add you to the facepalm brigade.

Ben does occasionally say correct things, just not very often. He's still wrong about ebola being a big deal here.

[kentonio]

Would he do it if he wasn't getting med-evac'd when the going got tough? They brought him out once. Are they going to bring him out every time he contracts Ebola?

It's cute how you try and downplay the achievements of a man who is willing to risk his life to travel to a far off country to help treat people dying of a horrific disease while you sit at home pissing your pants.

[Dr Strangelove]

Would he do it if he wasn't getting med-evac'd when the going got tough? They brought him out once. Are they going to bring him out every time he contracts Ebola?

He's immune now.

Good news! The vaccine may be coming out after Christmas. Twenty thousnad doses may be available!


Wait. Twenty thousnad doses? Who gets them, CDC employees, the Cabinet, Congress and the heads of Federal departments?